Military Tactics: The George Patton Quiz

Gen. George S. Patton Jr. was an exceptionally skilled military leader whose aggression and ability to read a battlefield led to countless successes in World War II, including a stunning high-speed advance across France while battling Nazis every step of the way. Patton helped define American armored warfare doctrine. How much do you know about his battlefield tactics?

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Question 1 of 30

What did Patton think was the defining characteristic of desert tank warfare?

a total lack of cover

Patton's desert doctrine was largely defined by the total lack of cover.

difficulty of maintaining supply lines

identifying battle lines without accurate maps

Question 2 of 30

In the absence of cover, what was a ground force's best form of protection?

trenches

building man-made cover

constant reconnaissance

Patton envisioned tank forces moving too quickly and frequently to construct cover or trenches. Constant observation, from the ground and the air, was needed to make sure ground units knew about approaching enemies well ahead of time.

Question 3 of 30

How were tanks and trucks supposed to arrange themselves to avoid strafing and bombing attacks from aircraft?

in a double file column

in tight clusters so the lead unit provided cover

widely dispersed

Units had to be dispersed so an air attack was only likely to strike a single unit, but they had to also stay close enough together to maintain control and cohesion.

Question 4 of 30

What was the minimum distance between tanks and trucks underway advocated by Patton?

75 yards (69 meters)

Patton believed keeping vehicles at least 75 yards apart was the optimal distance. It was actually harder to keep them from getting too close together than to keep them from drifting farther apart.

300 yards

10 yards

Question 5 of 30

True or false: Patton's preference for traveling tanks was a disciplined single file column.

true

false

Ground units in an orderly straight line were very vulnerable to bombing and strafing attacks. A staggered formation was necessary.

Question 6 of 30

What was Patton's advice for pneumatic tires driving over sand?

They could be deflated to as low as 70 percent air pressure for better traction.

He knew tires deflated to 70 percent pressure could achieve better traction on sand, and the tires could temporarily go as low as 50 percent for stuck vehicles.

They should be wrapped in chains for traction.

They should be avoided completely in favor of tracked vehicles.

Question 7 of 30

What did Patton believe was the key to coordinating reconnaissance with artillery and dispersed units?

two-way radios

Effective command and control of armored units required a radio in every tank, something that wasn't widely accepted at the outset of World War II.

imaginative commanders

light tanks

Question 8 of 30

What was the basis of Patton's doctrine with the U.S. Third Army late in the war when it regarded attacking Nazis in Europe?

constant attack

Patton's nonstop aggression in attacking the Nazis is sometimes referred to as the American version of blitzkrieg.

incremental advance

regroup and consolidate

Question 9 of 30

True or false: Patton's aggression was successful but came at the cost of terrible American casualties.

true

false

The constant attack doctrine prevented the Nazis from reinforcing and resupplying their positions, which actually saved American lives.

Question 10 of 30

Aside from recon and vehicle dispersal, what else did Patton believe was crucial in desert tank warfare?

fast tanks

accurate weather reports

vehicle maintenance

Patton's writing on desert tank doctrine gives clear and specific instructions on the maintenance of vehicles in harsh desert conditions.

Question 11 of 30

In his rush to capture Messina, Italy, during the invasion of Sicily, Patton ordered several amphibious landings. Why?

to establish a beachhead where he could then land more troops and supplies

to try to get troops behind Axis lines, disrupting their withdrawal and pressuring their front lines

The landings were partially successful at outflanking Axis units, but in some cases Patton's main force was moving so fast that the landings were no longer behind enemy lines by the time they happened.

to give his troops practice for the eventual Normandy, France, invasion

Question 12 of 30

What tactical maneuver did Patton execute while commanding the First United States Army Group in the D-Day invasion?

He set up artillery units on anchored barges to provide close artillery support.

None — the First United States Army Group was a fake, "phantom" army created entirely to deceive the Nazis as to the location of the actual invasion.

The First United States Army Group didn't exist, and Patton wasn't really in charge of it, but he was named as its commanding officer to help sell the deception.

During the drive to recapture France, Patton's armored units adopted a practice in which gunfire, particularly using .50-caliber M2 Browning machine guns, would be trained on any location along the path of advance that might offer cover to waiting German troops, flushing them out. What is the term for this practice?

reconnaissance by fire

Reconnaissance by fire allowed armored units to move much more quickly, maintaining pressure on retreating German troops instead of waiting for scouts and infantry.

enfilade

indirect fire

Question 14 of 30

What characteristic of U.S. Sherman tanks allowed armored units to advance through France with speed?

raw horsepower

mechanical reliability

The reliability of Shermans made it easier for supply units to keep up with the pace of the advance, which is really the limiting factor in any military advance.

specialized suspension components

Question 15 of 30

What was the name of the truck convoy system that effectively supplied Patton's Third Army (and other Allied armies) in their advance through France?

the Red Ball Express

The majority of the Red Ball Express drivers were African-American. While Patton (an outspoken racist) didn’t create the convoy system, he made effective use of it.

the Lorraine Pipeline

the A Train

Question 16 of 30

Patton was able to quickly redirect his forces from their rapid advance to fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. How many divisions was he able to reposition in just three days?

six

Patton redirected six divisions, more than 100,000 vehicles and hundreds of thousands of men, in a remarkably short time. It was a singular feat of military organization.

four

two

Question 17 of 30

When the Third Army ran short of fuel and supplies, partly because the fuel was being sent to other units, how did it acquire extra supplies?

They pretended to be from the other units and effectively "stole" the fuel.

Claiming to be from the First Army was an effective way for the Third Army to get their hands on fuel.

They used captured German equipment and supplies.

They radioed for supplies to be air-dropped to their locations.

Question 18 of 30

Not all of Patton's tactical decisions were brilliant. His disastrous raid on the Hammelburg, Germany, prisoner-of-war camp was intended to rescue whom?

Patton's cousin

a corporal that Patton had been childhood friends with

Patton's son-in-law

The raid not only failed to recover Patton's son-in-law, but also resulted in more than 200 U.S. troops being killed or captured.

Question 19 of 30

Where did Patton develop his desert tank doctrine?

at the Desert Training Center in the Mojave Desert

Patton was the first commander of the Desert Training Center, and he learned a great deal while running tank exercises there.

in a campaign in the Sahara Desert in World War I

in Massachusetts

Question 20 of 30

According to Patton, what was the maximum distance allowable between task forces (discrete combat groups) when moving abreast?

line of sight

"The interval between them should not exceed visual contact," Patton wrote.

300 yards (274 meters)

1000 yards

Question 21 of 30

Patton used two types of units in his advance guard, which preceded the main body by about a mile and aided in reconnaissance: half-tracks and quarter-ton trucks together, and …

hydrogen airships

light tanks

Light tanks were effective at identifying where enemy infantry was deployed and spotting enemy tank destroyers.

mine-sweepers

Question 22 of 30

Where did Patton believe tank destroyers should be positioned relative to the main force of his tanks?

at the rear, protecting the artillery and providing support fire

providing support fire from a flanking position

at the front line, preventing enemy tanks from infiltrating his tank lines

Patton used tank destroyers aggressively, keeping them at the front of his lines.

The .50-calibers were undoubtedly useful against infantry, but Patton knew protecting his supply units from air attacks was crucial — anti-aircraft fire was the primary reason he wanted his vehicles equipped with them.

They could penetrate thinly armored Italian tanks at close range.

Question 24 of 30

True or false: Patton saw combat as a fluid, complex situation, and he thought that commanders had to be creative and adaptable to succeed.

true

He once wrote, "Battle is an art, and the commander, the artist, must paint his own picture."

false

Question 25 of 30

Although desert combat is notable for its lack of terrain, what could be taken advantage of if attacking from the correct direction?

the weather

the sun

Patton was certainly not the first general to realize it is preferable to attack so that the sun shines in your enemies' eyes.

magnetic compasses

Question 26 of 30

How did Patton tell tank crews to position themselves relative to incoming fire?

from high ground, to minimize the profile of the tank from the enemy's point of view

at an angle, to maximize the chance that an incoming round would deflect off their armor

Patton understood proper angling of tanks to make the most of their armor.

dead on

Question 27 of 30

Patton's preferred positioning for tanks was in a depression or behind a hill, with just the turret and gun exposed. This is known as …

echelon

enfilade

defilade

Defilade, also known as hull down, was an optimal position for U.S. tanks in World War II, as they typically had heavily armored turrets.

Question 28 of 30

When moving across open terrain, tanks should do what, according to Patton?

frequently change direction by 45 degrees or more

Changing direction, or "tacking," makes it more difficult for enemy guns to fire accurately at an individual tank.

drive in the path of the tank ahead, to avoid mines

approach slopes from an oblique angle

Question 29 of 30

Toward the end of a battle, what did Patton think artillery should do?

leave the battlefield entirely to conserve ammunition and equipment

move to a safe location and continue providing indirect fire if possible

move toward the battle, often engaging in direct fire

Patton felt the powerful artillery guns should be brought to bear on remaining enemy armor or fortified emplacements late in a battle.

Question 30 of 30

True or false: Patton felt the only real use of aircraft in a tank battle was for reconnaissance.

true

false

In France, Patton made extensive use of close air support, allowing a commander in an attacking tank to perform "air traffic control" and order air strikes.